A detailed look at the game of Dungeons & Dragons and all things related

Friday, October 17, 2014

Class Showcase: Clerics

It’s
week three of my Class Showcase series, where I take a class from D&D and
give three examples from popular culture. This week: Clerics.

#3 Leo
Wyatt (Charmed)

Once
upon a time, there was a show called Charmed. It centered around three sisters,
and eventually a half-sister, who all discover that they are descended from a
long-line of witches and can manifest various powers. Although it was very popular at the time, it
seems to have taken a back seat in recent years to more “mature shows”.
Regardless, one of the supporting characters in Charmed was Leo Wyatt. During
his mortal life he was a medic in WWII. Unfortunately, that is also where he
died. However, he was eventually brought back in a kind of angelic form to be a
Whitelighter, which is a guardian that protects the innocent and heals those in
need. He saves countless lives over the eight year run of the show and eventually
fathers the boy who will one day grow up to be the “chosen one”. Not too
shabby.

#2
Melisandre, a.k.a The Red Woman (Game of Thrones)

Here’s a
bit of information you should already know: Not all clerics are of good
alignment! Such is most definitely the case with The Red Woman. In the books,
as with the television series, Melisandre is a bit of a mystery. She has
confidence, intelligence, cunning, and an undisputable power to command the
supernatural. All of this while also proclaiming unshakable faith to her “Lord
of Light” and encouraging others to do the same. However, her true motives and
end goals are anyone’s guess.

#1
Sheppard Book (Firefly)

There is
not a single character on the show
Firefly that is not interesting on multiple levels. In the case of Sheppard
Book, he is not only a man of faith, but also a man with a very mysterious past.
He begins the series as a simple Sheppard (similar to a reverend or priest)
joining the crew of Serenity as a kind of moral compass for the others to cling
to and bounce ideas off. However, as the show progresses, we begin to learn
that Book had some kind of military training in his youth and is able to call
in a favor or two from the highest levels of government when the need is great.
Want to learn more? So do a lot of us.